Atarashi Years
by nomi-sama
Summary: Set after manga. Kurata Sana, Hayama Akito, and the rest of the gang are now in high school. They end up meeting quite interesting people, as love continues to fly in the air... How will things change now that the new high school years have begun?
1. First Day

Nomi: Hello Minna-sama! My first fic in a long time… For the past several months I've been working mainly on my original story, Sekai no Yami. Visit my homepage to read it. But now I think I'll give another shot at writing a fic, and especially one about my favorite manga in the world, Kodomo no Omocha! If you haven't read it please do so, but you probably wouldn't be in the Kodocha section if you haven't even read the manga (or seen the anime) :D So enjoy the story, and please review! I am accepting rude criticism (flames TTTT) but please don't bash my story like a piece of crap. Thank you, and enjoy the chapter!

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**Chapter 1: First Day**

By Nomi-sama

Kurata Sana slowly opened her eyes. Sunlight glowed faintly through her closed curtains into the room. It was definitely a bright day.

Sana turned to her nightstand, sitting right beside her bed with a black digital clock on it to check the time. Apparently she woke up half an hour before her alarm clock was set to ring. Sana knew why; today was her first day of high school, and it was hard to keep asleep in such anxiety.

Sana rose out of bed and walked to her window. She opened the curtains and window to let in some fresh air. Winter had decided to linger a bit longer than usual this year, but spring was definitely in the air. Sana deeply inhaled the clean air. The sun was high up, and the breeze cool and fresh. Today would be a warm day.

She felt like making everything about today perfect, so she went and made her bed as neatly as she could, making sure the sheets and pillows were arranged perfectly straight. Usually she just let Shimura-san make it for her after she left for school.

After going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash up, Sana removed her new high school uniform from its hanger in the closet and began changing into it.

The uniform consisted of a pale, gray-white skirt with new, crisp pleats and a button and zipper on the side. The skirt was a few inches shorter than the skirt of her middle school uniform. She also wore a thin white collared short sleeved shirt that buttoned up, with a loose red bow at the neck. Over her shirt, she put on her navy blue blazer and buttoned all three buttons.

Sana sat on her bed while quickly shoving navy knee socks over her feet. Then, after spending quite a while on putting her red-brown hair into light curls and making sure her bangs were perfect, she finally went downstairs.

"Ohaiyo!" Sana called happily to her mom, Rei, and Shimura-san.

They replied with their own "good mornings" and told her that breakfast was waiting for her in the kitchen. Sana felt a little too excited right now to eat anything, but she took a few bites of the egg and drank half the bowl of soup anyway.

"How are you feeling, Sana?" Mama asked.

"Really excited," Sana said enthusiastically.

"High school is a big step from junior high," Mama told her. "But don't stress yourself. You'll be fine."

"Okay!" Sana replied.

Right before she and Rei left for school, Sana checked to make sure her hair and uniform were perfect. Then she slipped on her brown-black school shoes and hopped in Rei's car outside.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Take care!" Rei said to Sana as he dropped her off at the school.

"I will," Sana said, stepping out of the car and slamming the door shut. "Bye Rei-kun!"

"Bye," Rei said and began to drive away. "Sana-chan is finally in high school," he said with a wide stream of tears running down his face from under his sunglasses. "Stay my little girl, Sana-chan!"

High school would be in a brand new building this year. Sana walked a bit further into the campus, while many elementary and middle-schoolers scurried to their own destinations at the same time.

Sana felt older all of a sudden. She used to be one of those junior high students on their way to class. She felt much older, now that she was in high school.

Sana suddenly spotted a familiar girl in the same navy and gray high school uniform. "Fuuka-chan!" Sana shouted. Finally she had found one of her friends.

Matsui Fuuka, the pretty brown-haired girl from Osaka, who had been Sana's best friend for three years now, turned and waved at Sana. "Sana-chan!" she said, running over to her.

"How've you been?" Sana asked. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, I haven't actually seen you since graduation," Fuuka said. "You know, I went to Osaka for a couple weeks to visit Takaishi-kun."

Fuuka and Takaishi started going out again at the end of their first year at junior high. Since then they still remained boyfriend and girlfriend.

"So, have you seen Aki or Tsuyoshi-kun and Aya-chan?" Fuuka asked.

"No, not yet," Sana replied, scanning the crowd. "I've been looking for them."

"Well for now we should just go ahead and find out our classes before opening ceremony," Fuuka said. "The others will show up eventually."

Inside the front doors of the high school, a mass of students crowded around a bulletin board with class lists. Sana and Fuuka walked up to the bulletin board and scanned the first year section.

"I'm in class 1-3 with Arashi-sensei as my homeroom teacher," Sana read from the board. "Hey, Fuuka-chan! We're in the same class!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Fuuka exclaimed. Suddenly they both heard a loud moan. They turned right to see Tsuyoshi's upset face several feet away.

"Tsuyoshi-kun!" Sana said, rushing over to him. Aya was standing with him, looking quite upset too. Fuuka followed.

"What's wrong?" Fuuka asked urgently.

Tsuyoshi turned and looked at Fuuka and Sana. "Oh, hello Fuuka-chan, Sana-chan…" Aya greeted them the same way.

"What's wrong?" Fuuka asked again.

"Look," Tsuyoshi said, pointing wearily up at the class lists.

"Class 1-4 with Irumi-sensei," Sana read. "What's wrong with that? Is Irumi-sensei an evil teacher?" Tsuyoshi gestured her to read the next class list. "Class 1-5 with Kimura-sensei -" she scanned down the list off students – "Oh, Aya-chan is in this class!"

"Yes, and I'm in class 1-4," Tsuyoshi moaned. "We're separated!"

"Oh, don't whine about it," Fuuka said. Then she patted him on the back. "Don't worry, it's not like you'll never see her during the day at all."

"Yeah, Hayama and I were in different classes most of junior high," Sana said. "And speaking of Hayama, I wonder what class he's in?"

"Class 1-1," said a deep, soft voice. Sana turned to see her boyfriend, who she hadn't seen for a week, walking towards her. He was in his navy blue blazer and pants.

"Hayama!" Sana said smiling. "So, we're in different classes again?"

"There's nothing for you to worry about," Tsuyoshi complained. "I've never been in a different class than Aya-chan!"

"Well, too bad," Hayama said. "No one said you'd get everything you want in high school."

"We go to the gymnasium now," Fuuka said. "The opening ceremony should be starting soon."

The group of five proceeded to the gymnasium, where the opening ceremony was held. They took seats in the fifth to front row, near the front where first year students were supposed to sit. They stared at the plump, elderly man on stage wearing a dark gray suit.

"Man, that guy looks so much like our old principal," Hayama said.

"Don't tell me they have another older brother," said Sana.

A few minutes later, the gymnasium was filled with students, teachers, and a small group of parents.

The principal walked up to the microphone, cleared his throat, and began speaking. "Hello, and welcome to Jinbo High School. I am the father of the elementary and junior high principals, and I have been principal at this school for many, many years now…"

"Wow, our old principals' father," Sana said quietly.

About ten minutes later, Hayama's head began to droop slightly. His eyes were closed and he was silent. Sana had lost attention quickly from the principal's speech and looked over at Hayama. "Hayama," she whispered, nudging him softly. "Wake up. Don't sleep in here." Hayama gave no response to Sana at all, and Sana continued staring at him. She smiled to herself as she noticed his calm, relaxed face. She decided to let him sleep on. The principal's speech was boring anyway.

About twenty minutes later, the principal said his closing words. "And lastly, welcome again to another year at Jinbo High School, and a brand new year for our first year students. Enjoy school and study hard!"

Students began filing out of their rows and out of the gymnasium. Sana got up and pulled Hayama up by the arm. He opened his eyes sleepily and yawned. "It's over already?" he said. "That was a short nap."

Sana frowned. "Come on, take this first day of school more seriously!"

"That's the last thing I expected someone as 'genki' as you to say," Hayama commented.

"Well, it's just that I want today to be absolutely perfect…"

"Whatever."

They walked to the first year hall together with Fuuka, Tsuyoshi, and Aya until they had to go to their own separate classes. "See you at lunch, Hayama," Sana said cheerfully.

"Bye," Hayama said in his low voice and kissed her swiftly on the cheek. He departed for his classroom, leaving Sana with rosy cheeks, smiling like the san. She never got tired of Hayama kissing her, even if it was only a peck on the cheek.

Tsuyoshi and Aya left for their own classrooms, and Sana and Fuuka entered classroom 1-3 together, taking a seat next to each other by the windows. Outside they could see the school's track field and tennis courts two floors down.

"Arashi-sensei is really pretty," Sana whispered to Fuuka. Fuuka nodded back.

Arashi-sensei wrote her name in chalk on the board and began introducing herself. Sana rested her chin on her hand leisurely and looked up at her teacher's young, pretty face while she thought of nothing except Hayama.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So, what did you think of Irumi-sensei?" Fuuka asked Sana, Tsuyoshi, and Aya as they walked to the cafeteria together for lunch.

"Mm, he was kind of boring," Sana replied. She looked over at Tsuyoshi and Aya, who were sulking because of their class separation.

"Yeah, he could at least show some expression on his face, especially on the first day of school," Fuuka said. "Oh you two, stop sulking," she said to Tsuyoshi and Aya. "A little separation in classes isn't going to ruin your relationship."

"Yeah, you two will probably never ever break up," Sana said as the four of them laughed.

They turned left down the hallway and found themselves walking into a great vast, but crowded room. There were at least ten long lunch tables and a long line of students waiting for their lunches.

"Where's Hayama?" Aya asked, looking around the room.

"Hm, I dunno," Tsuyoshi said thoughtfully.

By the window at the end of the cafeteria stood a loud second year boy looking outside. "Look!" he shouted, pointing outside excitedly. "Two freshmen kids are in a fight!"

"A fight?" Sana said clueless. She and her friends walked swiftly across the room over to the window to see this so-called fight.

"It's Hayama!" Aya said loudly.

"It is!" Fuuka said, "And he's fighting with a girl!"

Sana moaned. "Why does this feel so familiar?"

"Didn't Hayama get into a fight with someone on the first day of junior high?" Tsuyoshi asked.

"Yeah, the nosebleed guy," Sana replied frowning. "Now what's he doing, getting into another fight on the first day of school?"

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Nomi: w00tness! My first chappie done :D I hope you enjoyed reading it, please review and look forward to my next chapter!

P.S. I AM IN LOVE WITH HAYAMA!


	2. Karate Girl

Nomi: Hello minna-sama! Chapter 2 has arrived! And it's quite a bit longer than the first… lol, a bit more than double the length. But I just had to stuff a bunch of stuff in, you know… Well you probably don't, but please read and give me or comments! Or criticism XD Enjoy!

Chapter notes:

- When Sana and Hayama are heading back in to the cafeteria from the fight, Sana says something about "making Hayama play batsu-game." I'm not sure whether this is a very common joke in Japan, but I've heard it used before and "batsu-game" basically translates to "penalty-game." This is used when someone does something bad or something that "deserves a penalty" and others make him or her do something ridiculous as a penalty game.

- If you don't already know, a "gi" is a uniform worn for certain athletics, such as martial arts and kendo.

- A dojo is a training hall for martial arts, kendo, etc.

- "sensei" is the term for teacher… it is used for teachers in school and Mayuko refers to her karate instructor as "sensei."

- I forgot to put this in the last chapter, but at the beginning it is mentioned that it is spring and winter has recently ended. This is their first day of school, and in America school usually starts in September, around the beginning of fall. In Japan, the new school term starts in April.

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**Chapter 2: Karate Girl**

By Nomi-sama

- Before Lunch -

"Eto," Kimura-sensei said. "Uh, now you're dismissed for lunch."

_Finally_, Hayama thought. _This is the most boring first day of school ever._

Hayama got up from his chair and was about to put back on his blazer he took off earlier until he heard a loud, obnoxious high voice from behind him.

"Hayama Akito!" she said. Hayama turned to face a standing light-brown haired girl who was a few inches shorter than him, glaring at him. "Hayama Akito!" she repeated.

_What does this annoying girl want?_ Hayama thought. _How does she even know my name?_ He waited a few seconds for her to speak, but if she didn't he was going straight to the cafeteria.

"I challenge you to a fight!" she declared.

"Huh?" Hayama said indifferently.

"Don't underestimate me!" she said, although Hayama noticed her legs wobble ever so slightly.

"What are you talking about?" Hayama said.

"Follow me!" she demanded.

She led him out the classroom door and down the stairs to the ground floor. Several students followed, curious to see this so called fight. Then she flung the school doors open as the group of students was suddenly embraced by the light of the sun outside. They walked outside onto open grounds where they could fight.

"I don't have time for this," Hayama said, wondering why he even followed her out in the first place. "I'm hungry and I want to go to lunch-"

"Lunch can wait!" the girl shouted. She stood ready to fight facing Hayama, with her fists raised near her upper chest.

"What the hell am I doing?" Hayama muttered to himself, but reacted quickly when the girl swung a fast punch at him. He dodged to his left, but she kept on attacking. Hayama observed her fighting style as he dodged her kicks and punches. She was fast at transitioning from one attack to another, and kept a good flow of hits. _She knows karate,_ Hayama thought, _and she's pretty good._

Hayama had dodged all of her attacks so far and blew not even a single punch at the girl yet. The fight had been going on for at least several minutes now, and a fairly large crowd of mostly first and second year students had formed around the fight. They talked amongst themselves about what was going on in front of them, and occasionally cheered when Hayama dodged a particularly difficult attack.

Suddenly, the girl turned back around and swung a back wheel kick at Hayama's head. This was unexpected; she had been pretty much directly facing him for the past minute or so. At the last moment, Hayama raised his left fist to block and caught her ankle, just centimeters from the side of his head. The girl stood strained with her right leg held up by Hayama by the ankle, wincing and grunting out quietly. Hayama twister her leg just enough for her to fall to the ground under his grip. She gave a small groan as Hayama released her ankle. She jumped back to her feet in a split-second and continued attacking him, this time at an even faster speed.

"Ugh," Hayama sighed in annoyance. _I guess if I want to go to lunch, I'll have to finish her off… God, she's so persistent._

He began attacking for the first time in this fight. He could tell she was surprised. She kept on blocking rapidly to keep up with the speed of Hayama's attacks. He raised his foot to finish the fight with his famous side kick, but this time he would do it lightly… just strong enough to knock her over and keep her on the ground for a little while – until a familiar high voice behind him shouted, "HAYAMA!" Hayama set his foot down immediately, turned around to see who it was, and instantly made contact with a red and yellow mallet slamming into his face.

"What the hell was that for!" Hayama said angrily to Sana. Standing behind her were Fuuka, Tsuyoshi, and Aya.

"What are you doing, getting into fights on the first day of school!" Sana yelled back.

"She was the one that dragged me out here to fight!" Hayama said, pointing at the girl with whom he had just fought, who was now staring at Hayama and Sana in confusion.

"Hai, hai, hai," Sana said. "But still! You shouldn't have gotten into a stupid fight during school!"

"What do you know about karate and fighting, Kurata Sana?" the girl said suddenly in an angry voice. She was obviously just gravely offended.

"Eh?" Sana said confused.

"What makes you think you can just barge out here and tell Hayama Akito when he can fight and when he can't!" she said in the same tone.

"Ara?" Sana said, with her hands on the top of her head now, the tip of her straight fingers poised on it.

"Do you even know who Hayama Akito is?" the girl said angrily, as if Hayama was some famous ruler.

"God, that girl must be the only person that doesn't know Aki is Sana's boyfriend," Fuuka said quietly. Tsuyoshi and Aya nodded in agreement.

Hayama sighed. _I'm so hungry, _he thought.

"Of course I know who he is," said Sana plainly. "He's Hayama."

Hayama nudged Sana. "Can we go to the cafeteria now? I'm starving."

"Okay," Sana said smiling. "We should make you play batsu-game for getting into a fight on the first day of school!" she said jokingly, as Fuuka, Tsuyoshi, and Aya laughed. They began heading back inside the school building, along with most of the other students who had come to watch the fight. "You beat up a poor girl!" Sana laughed with the others. Hayama muttered faint complaints to them as the karate girl stood still outside, gaping in disbelief at the last of the crowd heading inside. She looked completely crushed. Then her eyes narrowed.

"I knew it," she said to herself. "That Kurata Sana is spoiled and arrogant, just like all rich celebrities. She thinks she's better than everyone else."

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After afternoon classes were over, students were packing up at their desks to go home.

"Hey, Fuuka-chan!" Sana said happily. "We should hang out with Hayama and Tsuyoshi-kun and Aya-chan!"

"Uh," Fuuka said anxiously. "Actually my parents are expecting me home right away. I'm kinda busy today… sorry."

Sana frowned. "That's okay," she said.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," Fuuka said with a friendly smile as she finished packing up. She swung her school bag over her shoulder, waved goodbye to Sana as Sana waved back, and exited the classroom.

Sana went to classroom 1-1 next, carrying all her packed school stuff in her brown school bag. She spotted Hayama in the very back row of desks, packing his own school backs. A small duffel bag with his karate gi sat next to his school bag. "Hey, Hayama!" she said cheerfully, skipping lightly to his desk.

"Hi," Hayama replied, looking up from his school bag when he heard her voice.

"Do you wanna hang out with me today?" Sana asked. "I haven't asked Tsuyoshi-kun and Aya-chan yet, but I'm going to."

"Sure," Hayama replied. "I don't have karate for another two hours."

"Great!" Sana exclaimed. She took his hand and began to lead him out of the classroom. He grabbed his school bag and karate bag and slung them over his shoulder, walking with Sana.

The karate girl that fought Hayama earlier eyed the two of them carefully from her seat in the corner of the room as they walked out. "Who does she think she is, flirting with Hayama Akito like that and acting like she knows him so well?" the girl said to herself. "Spoiled actresses like her shouldn't even be concerned with people who do karate.

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"So, who was that girl you got into a fight with?" Tsuyoshi asked Hayama. They were sitting at a small round table outside, drinking sodas and eating.

"I have no idea," Hayama said, munching on his hamburger. "But she's pretty good at karate."

"I can't believe she doesn't know you and Sana are dating," Aya said.

"She doesn't?" Sana asked, confused.

"Yeah, don't you remember her asking if you knew Hayama?" Aya replied.

"Um," Sana thought for a second. "No, not really."

Hayama sighed. _That's just like her to forget something like that,_ he thought.

"Anyway," Tsuyoshi said, changing the topic out of curiosity. "How's your acting going, Sana-chan?"

"Um," Sana said. "Well I haven't been doing much lately. I haven't done Kodocha since the end of junior high."

"Aren't you kind of getting old for that? You're in high school now," Hayama said.

"I don't know," Sana said. "Zenjirou-san told me I could lay off it for a while. That I would be more successful taking roles in movies and new TV series'.

"So have you gotten any new job offers?" Aya asked her curiously, and sipped her drink."

"Yeah, I'm always getting at least a few job offers," Sana said. "But I'd rather take job offers later on, in a couple of months maybe. I want to get a good start on my first year of high school." Tsuyoshi nodded in agreement.

"Well, I have to get to karate now," Hayama said, rising from his seat. He grabbed his hamburger wrapper and trash and shoved it in a nearby trash can. He took his school bag and karate bag as Tsuyoshi and Aya bid him goodbye.

"Wait," Sana said suddenly. Hayama stopped and looked at her. "I'll walk with you there."

"Okay," Hayama said, and they left for karate.

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The two were silent for the first few minutes of the walk, for there was nothing really significant to talk about at the moment. Sana glanced at Hayama nervously. He was his usual self – expressionless and calm.

"Hayama," Sana said, breaking the silence between them. "How do you feel about being away from me?"

Hayama stared down at his feet. "I hate it. Don't you know that already?"

"But, we trust each other more now," Sana protested.

Hayama sighed, put a hand on her shoulder, and turned her towards him, stopping her in her tracks. He stared down into her hazel brown eyes. She looked back into his own calm, soft golden brown eyes. She felt that familiar feeling of his eyes drawing her in, like she couldn't avoid them.

"Sana," he said quietly. "I just spent the past two years in LA, thousands of miles away from you. I didn't cheat on you for that whole time, but I still can't stand being away from you.

Sana looked down solemnly. "How would you feel if I took up job offers?" she asked weakly.

"I don't know," Hayama said. "I wouldn't know until you actually do it."

"I know I said I want to go through high school with a good start, but acting is something I just can't stray away from for so long. Rei-kun, Mama, and even Naozumi-kun are being really nice about letting me just concentrate on school."

Hayama's eye brows twitched slightly at the sound of Kamura Naozumi's name. He began walking again. "Okay," he said.

Sana caught up with him after his first few steps. "I hate being away from you too. But I've never tried concentrating on school and working at the same time."

"Just don't stress yourself," Hayama advised dully.

"I won't," Sana assured him. "But if it's going to upset you, I don't want to accept many job offers."

"We'll never know until you try," Hayama said again. Sana didn't know what to say to this. Hayama wasn't giving her a straight answer. She had no idea whether working would be a good thing or total mistake right now.

In a couple of silent minutes, the two of them came up to a small wood dojo with its front door doors wedged open.

"I guess I'll see you then," Hayama said.

"Okay," Sana said dryly. "Bye." And they kissed goodbye briefly.

Sana began walking back to her own house from the dojo. It wasn't very far, a quarter mile at most. Her hands were stuffed into the pockets of her navy blazer. Why was Hayama being like this? Sana assumed they had been with each other long enough for Hayama to be sure that Sana would be okay with mostly whatever he said. She didn't want to hurt anybody or make a mistake by choosing to work, when she had just begun high school. She knew Rei was being patient and considerate by not begging her to accept job offers so much anymore.

Sana didn't know what to do anymore. She remembered how simple she thought her life was a few years ago. Now things had changed so much… and now she knew she couldn't take her friends or anything else for granted, especially Hayama.

Sana's mind had become overwhelmed with thoughts. She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head rapidly. There was so much more to think about now, but she knew she couldn't keep burying herself in anxiety.

She summoned up a brave and determined smile. "I've got to think positively," Sana said happily. "I'm never gonna get through high school wearing a frown all the time!"

After walking down a few blocks and around the corner of a street, she met the front yard of her family's mansion. Just as she walked up the long, concrete sidewalk to the front entrance, a cheerful lady in a light red kimono with a squirrel relaxing on her brown-haired bun swung the door open joyfully.

"Mama!" Sana said, her face brightening up.

"Welcome home, Sana!" Misako said energetically. "How was school?"

Sana didn't expect her mother to greet her like this. Did something special happen?

"School was fine!" Sana said. And suddenly, she began ranting on about the teachers and classes, the fight Hayama had gotten into, and how the principal was the old principal's father… And soon, she couldn't stop herself.

She hadn't talked so much to her mother for such a long time. She continued going on about everything, even as she walked into the house and put away her school stuff. All of a sudden, Sana felt better. So much better. All that worry had flown right off her chest. _Thank you, Mama,_ Sana thought. _Maybe somehow you knew I was feeling down._

After having a quick snack and changing out of her uniform, Sana went into her room, closed the door behind her, and jumped on her bed, laying down and staring straight up at the ceiling.

"What should I do now?" Sana pondered aloud. She turned only her head to the left to look at the digital clock on her nightstand. It was already five now, since she, Hayama, Tsuyoshi, and Aya had hung out for a while after school. Sana was in the mood for doing something fun and pointless, maybe something with her mother.

Sana shook her head. It was the first day of high school and she couldn't get into the habit of slacking off and not concentrating on school. "But studying is so hard," Sana complained to herself. She sat up abruptly, spotting her brown school bag laying on the floor right next to her desk. She frowned. "I guess I have to at least try.

She jumped up to her feet, went over to pick up her school bag, and sat at her desk. She first pulled out her heavy math text book set it on the desk. She thought back and remembered Arashi-sensei, who taught math, say something about reading a chapter… Sana turned to the first chapter of the book and was immediately brazen out with many diagrams of graphs and lines and…

"Mou, how am I ever going to get through school!" Sana shouted at her math book. "No, I have to do this," she muttered. "If I'm going to take job offers, I have to at least do well in school."

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The second day of high school passed a little faster than the first. Sana sat bored in classroom 1-3, impatiently waiting for Arashi-sensei to dismiss the class for the day.

"Hurry up and end class," Sana heard Fuuka whisper from the desk next to her.

Arashi-sensei was giving the final announcement for the day. "And lastly, before you leave, I have a list of clubs to hand out to you. Each student is required to join at least one club for the first term, unless they are already involved in a regular after-school activity. "She began passing sheets with club lists on them to the first person in each row of desks. They took a list and passed the sheets behind them for the next person in the row.

When the small pile of sheets reached Sana, she took one and passed the pile back. She looked over to see Fuuka brightly eyeing the list. "So, you're joining gymnastics club again?" Sana guessed.

"Definitely!" Fuuka grinned. "Wanna do it together, like in junior high?"

Sana remembered how she and Fuuka joined gymnastics together in their first year of junior high. Fuuka was the best gymnast in junior high, and Sana hadn't even been at school half the year. Doing gymnastics with Fuuka again would be a lot of fun, especially now that they were in high school. But Sana said, "Um, sorry Fuuka-chan. I don't think joining any clubs right now is a good idea for me."

Fuuka's smile turned into a slightly open mouth. "Why not?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe I'd take a few job offers sometime soon," Sana said weakly, pained from the upset look on her best friend's face.

But Fuuka began to smile again. "No problem!" she laughed, patting Sana heartily on the back. "You're an actress, and working is part of your job."

Sana smiled too, secretly appreciating how selfless Fuuka always was. She and Fuuka packed up their school bags and headed out the classroom together, chatting about the school day that just ended.

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Hayama left the school campus with his school bag slung over his shoulder casually. His blazer was on and neat, but his white button-up shirt was half un-tucked underneath.

Today he had no karate, but he still needed to do some self-training and jogging this evening. At karate practice, Hayama had become more of a student-teacher than a student training for his next belt. Hayama had already earned his second degree in karate in America, and also won championships at national tournaments. There wasn't really much else new to learn at his local dojo. But he kind of liked the idea of helping and teaching people instead of being a student now. It was like watching himself when he was training for his next belt.

"Hayama Akito!" said a girl's voice, and footsteps running towards him. Hayama turned to see the karate girl from yesterday, rushing to catch up with him.

_Her again_, Hayama thought, quite annoyed now.

She caught up with him and began walking at his pace next to him, breathing slightly faster than normal from the running she had just done.

"I forgot to tell you," she said. "My name is Kurosawa Mayuko."

"Okay," Hayama muttered dully. Then he couldn't help but wonder, "How do you even know me?"

Mayuko's mouth hung open. She stared at him, almost I disbelief. "How do I know you?" she repeated him. "Don't you have any idea how famous you are?"

_I'm famous?_ Hayama thought blankly. Then he scoffed. _Even if I am famous, this girl seems to be the only person who knows._

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hayama said to her.

She continued gaping at him. "I can't believe you! First you're hanging out with some rich spoiled actress, and now you don't even know you're famous!" Mayuko groaned and removed her school bag from her arm. She opened the clasp and reached inside, searching around for an item. "Damn, it's not in here," she said, taking her hand out of the bag. She closed her bag and hung it back over her shoulder. "Come with me," she said in a surprisingly gentle voice.

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She led him to a gray 5-story apartment building several blocks away from the school.

_An apartment? _Hayama thought. Mayuko dragged him into the building and climbed two flights of stairs when they were inside.

"Why are we in an apartment?" Hayama asked, confused.

"Because I live here," Mayuko replied, almost angrily.

_She lives in apartment building, _Hayama thought. _This is girl is weird…_

Mayuko walked with him down a carpeted hallway with numbered rooms on each side of the wall. They stopped at room 307, where Mayuko grabbed a silver ring of keys from her blazer pocket and inserted one of them into the keyhole of the door. A click sound came when she turned the key, and the door swung open.

"Sorry about the mess," Mayuko said, setting her school bag down on a random chair and heading over to a shelf stuffed with magazines at the other end of the room. Not only were there magazines on that shelf, but they were lying all over the floor, some crinkled and open. A few manga books were scattered of the room and Hayama spotted at beige training gi thrown over the arm of a chair, along with a black karate belt.

Mayuko bulled out a colorful magazine with a boy in a white karate gi on the front. He was holding a black belt with a small gold inscription at the end of it, and he had golden hair. Hayama stared at him. _Wait,_ he thought, _that's me…_

Mayuko walked back over to Hayama and handed him the magazine. "Look," she said. "You're on the front cover of a karate magazine."

"This is me getting my second degree," Hayama said to himself. Mayuko flipped the magazine open for him to a long article. It was about Hayama winning a karate championship in America. There were pictures of his fight with a blonde-haired American and him holding a tall trophy with medals around his neck.

"Seriously," Mayuko said. "You're probably in every karate magazine in Japan."

Hayama had no idea he had become slightly popular in Japan. He knew there were some articles written about him in America, but he was all over Japanese karate magazines.

"And you had no idea," Mayuko said in disappointment. "But I can't believe people aren't giving you the respect you deserve, like in school."

Hayama doubted anyone in school collected or even _read_ karate magazines. This girl had to be really obsessed with karate to think something like that.

"I mean, I was surprised when I saw that spoiled actress hanging around you as if she knew you."

"She's not spoiled," Hayama said, and he knew Mayuko was referring to Sana. "And she does know me."

Mayuko froze and stopped blinking for a second. "Oh," she said dryly. "But either way, she treats you as if you're just some loser at school."

"She's my girlfriend," Hayama said.

Mayuko stared blankly at Hayama for a while. "You're dating Kurata Sana?"

"Yeah," Hayama mumbled. He didn't think he'd actually have to _tell_ someone that.

"So do you still do karate at your dojo here?" Mayuko asked, changing the subject. She sat down on the nearest chair, took her karate gi off the arm of it, and tossed it into a corner of the room.

"Yeah," Hayama replied. "I'm like a teacher or tutor… I just kinda help out."

"I'm not even first degree yet," Mayuko said lowly. She looked down at her knees.

"Well, obviously you still do karate," Hayama said. "Right?"

"Yeah, of course," Mayuko replied, looking up at Hayama.

"Then you're gonna get to first degree eventually," Hayama said.

If it were someone else saying this, it would've sounded a lot more warm and encouraging. But nevertheless, Mayuko broke into a smile. Hayama Akito _is encouraging me, _she thought. "Yeah, my first degree test is in two weeks. I'm going to the dojo for four hours this Saturday to practice." Then Mayuko looked hesitantly to either side of Hayama. "Would you like to come see my dojo on Saturday?" she blurted out abruptly. "You can, well, meet my sensei and stuff."

Hayama had never really been to another dojo besides his regular one and places in America. Obviously Mayuko didn't train at the same dojo as him, so Hayama was kind of tempted to see what hers was like.

"I guess," Hayama said. "Where is it?"

Mayuko ripped off a section of a blank sheet of paper lying on the low table in front of her and began hastily scribbling directions on it. She drew a picture of two roads meeting at a rectangular building, which she labeled "Kouyama Dojo." She handed the sheet to Hayama saying, "Can you be there at noon?"

"Yeah," Hayama replied, stuffing the paper into the right pocket of his dark navy pants.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow then," Mayuko said, getting up from her chair. Hayama turned and walked to the door, but stopped before he reached for the knob.

For some reason, his curiosity got the better of him this time. He usually refrained from asking people questions. It was just in his nature to keep his mouth shut around strangers. But for some reason…

"Why do you live in an apartment?" Hayama asked quietly. "From the looks of your room, you obviously live alone."

"Because," Mayuko started. _No, I shouldn't be telling him this,_ she thought. But this was _Hayama Akito._ She couldn't just make up a stupid answer to this kind of question, not to the number one martial artist she adored. So she sighed and continued. "My family doesn't want me living with them, and I don't want to live with my family."

"_My family doesn't want me living with them."_ Hayama's eyes widened slightly as he thought over the words she just said. A feeling of nostalgia swept through his head. Memories of four years ago played in his mind… Natsumi kicking him out of the house, calling him a demon… his father's cold face eyeing him sternly… Sana comforting him as he lay on her lap…

"Oh," was all Hayama said quietly. "I'll see you then." He opened the door and walked out, closing it behind him.

He had no idea why a short line like what Mayuko said could make him feel wistful like it did, especially coming from someone he just met yesterday. But as Hayama walked out of the apartment building into the new spring air outside, he felt as if a complete stranger had just become a bit closer to him.

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Nomi: Yes, I know, the last part was kind of weird but please don't hate me. My next chapter will be out soon (hopefully)!


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